The National Nuclear Security Administration announced the successful completion of the Facilities and Infrastructure Recapitalization Program.

FIRP was created to reduce a substantial accumulation of backlogged facility maintenance, repair and demolition projects across NNSA’s eight sites.

As a result, NNSA has enhanced mission reliability, improved safety and working conditions and reduced operating costs across the national nuclear security enterprise.

“One of the primary goals of FIRP was to demonstrate NNSA’s commitment to being an effective steward of the taxpayers’ money while we move beyond the Cold War,” said NNSA Associate Principal Deputy Administrator Michael Lempke.

“The program was created to make our sites leaner, more energy efficient and to ensure the vitality and readiness of NNSA’s nuclear security enterprise. NNSA is proud of the professional staff dedicated to this major achievement. NNSA will continue to maintain the emphasis on core infrastructure that sustains all NNSA programs.”

The Department of Energy and the NNSA established FIRP with support of the Department of Defense, outside stakeholders and congressional subcommittees. The challenge was to reduce a $2 billion backlog of maintenance and repairs and to restore facility conditions to an acceptable level through recapitalization, restoration and modernization. The FIRP team achieved its goals of maintenance backlog and excess footprint reduction consistent with budgetary constraints.

Among its achievements, FIRP:

• Executed nearly 800 projects throughout the NNSA enterprise.

• Eliminated $900 million of baselined deferred maintenance, and brought the overall condition of the enterprises’ essential facilities up to industry standards.

• Completed nine utility line item projects including power grid upgrades at Los Alamos National Laboratory, an electrical substation and a heating system modernization at Sandia National Laboratories, electrical and natural gas distribution systems at the Pantex Plant, compressed air and potable water system upgrades and a steam plant life extension at Y-12 and 31 miles of highway repairs at Nevada National Security Site.

• Replaced 4.2 million square feet of failing roofs and achieved an average 70 percent decrease in heating and cooling costs with concurrent insulation upgrades.

• Adopted the LEED Cool Roof standard and upgraded more than 3 million square feet of roofs to energy efficient, cool roof compliance.